Councilman Tom LaBonge helped install the first of the new ‘coin and card’ parking meters on Larchmont Boulevard between Beverly Boulevard and 1st Street on Thursday morning. Over the past several days, LADOT workers have been installing poles that will host individual meters – one parking meter for each parking space.
The pay stations, spaced many parking spaces apart on Larchmont Boulevard, were installed in 2008, replacing previous coin meters. The pay stations left open the possibility that a parker could be ticketed in the time it took to wait in line and pay for parking; the new space-by-space coin and card parking meters prevent that from happening.
“Life is getting a little easier for all visitors to Larchmont Boulevard,” Councilmember Tom LaBonge said. “I am proud to be a part of this improvement.”
The pay stations in the surface lot on Larchmont will remain in place through the lifetime of those machines.
Bikers to Larchmont may not be so pleased with returning to the one-meter-per-space plan. When pay stations were instituted five years ago, the City took the opportunity to install bike racks at approximately every third meter space. The bike racks are now removed and since it is illegal to lock one’s bike to a meter, Â riders have only a few U racks to lock to on the boulevard. CD4 told the Buzz that the City is exploring other places to park and lock bikes, perhaps finding a bigger space to put racks in the surface lot.
At this time there is an app provided by mPark to add time to your meter if you’re parked in the surface lot pay station in Larchmont. Currently there is not an app to add time to the new meters being installed, but the success of a program for that downtown means it is likely Larchmont will get an app for our meters soon.
Parking around time can be found via your smartphone from the app by Parker.
Unlawful to lock a bike to a meter, wasn’t aware of that one. Yes the bike posts were a great idea. And now with the removal of the bike post/racks there aren’t many options.
It’s really very poor planning to make bike parking so difficult. It’s not only kids and teens that ride bikes to the Village, but people older than a teen, living a healthy lifestyle. I spend time daily writing at one of two coffee shops and see countless bikers at Chevaliers, pizza, RiteAid and on and on. Is the already overzealous City Parking Hegemony now going after bicycle riders?
So our teenagers want to pick up a pair of shoes at Kicks, or get a pizza slice to go, must park their bikes in a place in the surface lot and then go to the store. I don’t think the ‘brains’ behind some of our planners have children (or ride bikes).
Who, exactly, is calling the shots on things like bike posts?
LADOT is making the assessment. We’ll try and get a name. We’re bike riders too and would like to see lots of options!
Poor planning? Perhaps. Well since there’s money to be made off cars parking & not bicyclists. It’s a done deal. Presume folks complained that the pay stations were a bit confusing, paying for wrong parking spaces & such.
No worrys, we’ll just go back to hitching our bikes to whatever’s handy including parking meter posts. And yes the Buzz team is correct, it is (oddly) illegal to do so. But doubt anyone’s ever been cited or towed away.
I am in touch with LADOT bike folks to let them know they’ll at least need to revise their list of 33 parking posts on the ‘mont – to a lower number. I’ll take a count.
And we can request (again) for more bike parking: http://www.bicyclela.org/RackRequest.htm
Great to see that more citys are getting involved with the growing numbers & needs of cyclists, LA included. Our next CicLAvia’s just around the corner, October 6
http://www.ciclavia.org/